A single image retains the power to shock, even in this multi-media, broadband, 24-hour rolling news age. The picture of an Iraqi prisoner held by US forces in Abu Ghraib prison, forced to stand on a block with electrical wires attached to his body, clothed in a Ku Klux Klan-style hood, is more than just another embarrassment for the Bush administration. This and the other images, of naked Iraqi prisoners being abused and humiliated by their US captors, awakens every dark suspicion of US intentions in Iraq, and is the most effective recruiting sergeant for the forces of resistance inside and outside Iraq. This is not just a colossal blunder by the US - it inaugurates a whole new level of fears and dangers, both in Iraq and among many Muslims throughout the world.
The events inside Abu Ghraib prison opens a shameful episode of US ill-treatment of its prisoners, and has provoked worldwide condemnation. The handful of images - shown on US television on Thursday evening and now reproduced around the globe - also provide graphic evidence in much of the Arab and Muslim world of western sexual decadence and corruption. Since sodomy is often regarded as an extreme humiliation in societies such as Iraq, the pictures and allegations of rape will only confirm and personify the ill-effects of the US invasion and occupation.

To make matters even worse, it appears this is not an isolated incident. The US army reported last month that 17 soldiers, including a brigadier-general, had been removed from duty for mistreating prisoners. One of the soldiers being court-martialled, Ivan Frederick, a reservist who is a prison officer in civilian life, told CBS's 60 Minutes programme that preparation was poor and supervision was weak. Soldiers trained only in administrative duties were ordered to become military police. Private contractors were hired by the Pentagon to undertake interrogation, while subject to no applicable military or civil laws.

Even before the Abu Ghraib photographs were published, a reputable survey this week had found that 71% of Iraqis now regard coalition troops as a force of occupation, and 60% want the US and its allies to withdraw from Iraq immediately. That goodwill deficit will not improve, however comprehensive the actions taken by US commanders to punish the guards of Abu Ghraib.

The US army has put a lethal weapon into the hands of its enemies. It is clutching at the weakest of straws to discount these revolting abuses by comparing them with those of Saddam Hussain's regime. The US and Britain are rightly held up to a higher standard of behaviour, since that is their justification for invading Iraq. The events of Abu Ghraib invoke John Stuart Mill's insight that civilised societies succumb to their previously vanquished opponents only after losing their moral strength. "If this be so, the sooner such a civilisation receives notice to quit the better," Mill warned.